Building and maintaining your information architecture (IA) in SharePoint is an important and ongoing operational activity. As Microsoft Teams quickly spreads across your organization, its fast-paced deployment and ease-of-use capabilities make it a powerful hub for team collaboration, but can also mask the complexity of its underlying IA needs. In this IntraTeam (https://intrateam.dk) webinar (held January 30, 2019), Microsoft MVP & RD Christian Buckley provided an overview of the unique IA considerations for Teams with the goal of helping viewers better understand the interdependencies and gaps to be filled as their Teams planning gets underway.

1. Microsoft Teams
Has Moved the IA Cheese
Christian Buckley
Founder & CEO of CollabTalk LLC
Microsoft RD & MVP

2. @buckleyplanet

3. COLLABORATION
CAN BE COMPLEX
@buckleyplanet

4. @buckleyplanet

5. @buckleyplanet

6. https://www.slideshare.net/SPSParis2017/keynote-mark-kashmann-sps-paris-20171014
@buckleyplanet

7. But does SharePoint fit
every collaboration scenario?
@buckleyplanet

8. your sites
Communication sitesTeam sites
Department
Team
Project
Extranet (Partner, Customer)
Committee (Planning, Executive)
Initiative, campaign or event
Share work with organization
Community of practice or interest
Training and policies
Updates and reports
@buckleyplanet

9. Communication sitesTeam sites
Created by users or admins Created by users or adminsCreated by admins
Navigation
Theme and logo
Search scope
Hub sites
A communication site
or team site
News and activity rollup
@buckleyplanet

10. @buckleyplanet

11. Outlook
SharePoint
& OneDrive
@buckleyplanet

12. Outlook
Inner Loop
• Event team working
together on an
upcoming customer
event
• Technical Support trying
to resolve an open
customer ticket
• Project Manager
assembling a v-team to
collaborate over the life
of an initiative
SharePoint
& OneDrive
@buckleyplanet

13. Outlook
Outer Loop
• Ideation opportunity and
you want input from the
entire company
• Looking for expertise
outside of your working
team
• Open discussion on
topics that should be
maintained as part of the
organization’s broader
knowledge assets
Inner Loop
• Event team working
together on an
upcoming customer
event
• Technical Support trying
to resolve an open
customer ticket
• Project Manager
assembling a v-team to
collaborate over the life
of an initiative
SharePoint
& OneDrive
@buckleyplanet

14. Outlook
The “Ubiquitous” Loop
Outer Loop
• Ideation opportunity and
you want input from the
entire company
• Looking for expertise
outside of your working
team
• Open discussion on
topics that should be
maintained as part of the
organization’s broader
knowledge assets
Inner Loop
• Event team working
together on an
upcoming customer
event
• Technical Support trying
to resolve an open
customer ticket
• Project Manager
assembling a v-team to
collaborate over the life
of an initiative
SharePoint
& OneDrive
Groups, Graph, and Security
@buckleyplanet

15. What does this have
to do with cheese?
@buckleyplanet

16. @buckleyplanet

17. @buckleyplanet

18. Considerations for the modern intranet
 News, announcements & information (top/down, bottom/up)
 Find what you’re looking for (Search, discovery, browse/navigation)
 Collaboration & communication
 Personal, team, division, cross-company
 Usability, reliability, recognizable (theming and branding)
 Reorg, acquisition, growth
 Continuous innovation, change management
 Mobility and flexibility – informed & engaged
 Intranet AND extranet
 Who should and can access, create and consume (governance)
 Secure and compliant (proactive and reactive)
 VPN, multi-factor authentication
 Apps and services integration
 Out-of-the-box, configuration, customization – budget vs. requirements
@buckleyplanet

19. Top 10 IA Mistakes
(for websites and intranets)
1. No Structure
2. Search and Structure Not Integrated
3. Missing Category Landing Pages
4. Extreme Polyhierarchy
5. Subsites/Microsites Poorly Integrated with
Main Site
6. Invisible Navigation Options
7. Uncontrollable Navigation Elements
8. Inconsistent Navigation
9. Too Many Navigation Techniques
10. Made-Up Menu Options
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/top-10-ia-mistakes/
@buckleyplanet

20. @buckleyplanet

21. https://www.buckleyplanet.com/2018/10/ia-microsoft-teams.html
@buckleyplanet

22. @buckleyplanet

23. 1. How do you define Information Architecture, and how
well do users understand and adhere to this definition?
@buckleyplanet

24. According to fellow MVP and SharePoint Librarian
Sarah Haase, SharePoint information architecture is
“the art and science of organizing, storing, and
labeling content (e.g. documents, list data, Office 365
groups, SharePoint sites, etc.) to support content
findability and usability.”
She wrote a great blog post on the evolution of the
modern SharePoint site, and how there is now the
need of “flat” SharePoint IA:
https://regarding365.com/information-architecture-in-a-flat-sharepoint-world-934885869e8a
@buckleyplanet

25. @buckleyplanet

26. @buckleyplanet

27. In 1998, Louis Rosenfield and Peter Morville published Information
Architecture and the World Wide Web, a text about applying the
principles of architecture and library science to web site design.
Morville and Rosenfeld describe the relationship between
users, context, and content as “information ecology” and
visualized it in a venn diagram.
@buckleyplanet
“You only understand
information relative to what
you already understand.”
Richard Saul Wurman

28. @buckleyplanet
2. What is the state of Information Architecture
in Microsoft Teams today?

29. @buckleyplanet
3. Are there “best practices” for aligning Microsoft Teams
information architecture with SharePoint and other workloads?

30. @buckleyplanet
4. Is there still confusion around ‘which tool, when?’ in
Office 365, and does this impact IA adherence?

31. @buckleyplanet
5. What is the state of navigation and search across
Microsoft Teams and other workloads?

32. @buckleyplanet
6. How does an organization manage taxonomy as
Microsoft Teams becomes more prevalent?

33. @buckleyplanet
7. What 3 things should organizations do to begin
information architecture planning for Microsoft Teams?

34. Words of Wisdom from Microsoft
Having a solid information architecture is an important prerequisite for realizing a well-maintained and well-
performing portal. Designing the optimal structure requires detailed planning. If not done properly, you can
adversely affect user adoption or have significant performance issues; the likelihood of both is very possible.
Consider the following factors:
• Business objectives and the organizational structure.
• The kind of content you are dealing with. Is the content collaborative or published content?
• Content classification and confidentiality.
• Life-cycle of the content, and possible retention/disposition strategies. This also applies to sites as well.
• Users of the content, their behaviors, common tasks, and expectations.
After you know more about the users, the content, and the portal's intended usage, you will have a good
foundation to start with and can possibly avoid some of the common pitfalls around information architecture.
Information architecture is not a one-time process, rather, it a continuous process. While an optimal
information architecture may not always be obvious to end-users, a poorly designed and managed information
architecture will certainly be remembered if the experience is a bad one. Keep measuring, keep evolving, and
keep it relevant and fresh.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/dev/solution-guidance/portal-information-architecture
@buckleyplanet

35. Governance in Microsoft Teams
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/plan-teams-governance
• Group and team creation, naming, classification, and guest access
• Document your organization’s requirements for team creation, naming, classification, and guest access.
• Identify existing SharePoint sites to be “Groupified” and connected to new Teams
• Identify existing Office 365 Groups to also be “Groupified” and connected to new Teams
• Plan to implement these requirements as a part of your Teams rollout.
• Communicate and publish your policies to inform Teams users of the behavior they can expect.
• Group and team expiration, retention, and archiving
• Document your organization’s requirements for team expiration, data retention, and archiving.
• Plan to implement these requirements as part of your Teams rollout.
• Communicate and publish your policies to inform Teams users of the behavior they can expect.
• Teams feature management
• Document your organization’s requirements for limiting Teams features at the tenant and user level.
• Plan to implement your specific requirements as part of your Teams rollout.
• Communicate and publish your policies to inform Teams users of the behavior they can expect.
• Security and compliance
@buckleyplanet

36. Adding Microsoft Teams
into the mix

37. @buckleyplanet

38. Chat for today’s
teams
Communicate in the
moment and keep
everyone in the know
Customizable for
each team
Tailor your workspace to
include content and
capabilities your team
needs every day.
A hub for
teamwork
Give your team quick
access to information
they need right in
Office 365
Security teams
trust
Get the enterprise-level
security and compliance
features you expect from
Office 365.
@buckleyplanet

39. Groups Building Blocks

40. https://sharegate.com/blog/office-365-groups-explained
@buckleyplanet

41. @buckleyplanet

42. SharePoint
Inside!
 SharePoint Online is a required component for Teams.
 If you don't have SharePoint Online enabled in your tenant, Teams
users are not always able to share files in teams.
 Users in private chat will not be able to
share files because OneDrive for Business
is required for that functionality.
https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/skypehybridguy/2017/10/28/
microsoft-teams-use-an-existing-sharepoint-library/
@buckleyplanet

43. Exchange
Inside!
 Exchange Online is also a required component for Teams.
 Conversations and meetings are captured within Exchange Online.
 Private chats are captured within a hidden folder in the user’s
Exchange Online profile, and accessible/discoverable through the
Compliance Center.
 Hybrid users are still able to collaborate and participate in private
chats via the hybrid connector.
 While official Microsoft documentation states that hybrid user
private chats cannot be managed through the Compliance Center,
community members have found that private chats are currently
stored within the Teams chat service itself, and can be found
through the Compliance Center.
@buckleyplanet

44. Office 365
Groups Inside!
 When you create a team in Microsoft Teams,
on the backend, you’re creating
an Office 365 Group.
 Existing groups can be transitioned into teams.
 Restricting team creation can be accomplished
through group creation policies.
@buckleyplanet

45. Common question:
Does using Teams replace
my need for SharePoint?
@buckleyplanet

46. No, of course not.
SharePoint is a core infrastructural component of Microsoft Teams,
and works side-by-side with Teams to provide powerful and flexible
collaboration options for your organization, with multiple ways to
connect with and leverage your legacy – and future – SharePoint content.
@buckleyplanet

47. What are the
“Best Practices”
for using Teams?
@buckleyplanet

48. Office 365: Supporting the unique workstyle of every group
Complete Collaboration Solution
Office 365 addresses the breadth of
collaboration needs across organization
Integrated Experiences
Office 365 Groups and Graph enable
integrated experiences that facilitate
effective collaboration
Security and Compliance
Office 365 provides the security,
compliance and manageability
required in today’s workplace
Mail &
Calendar
Outlook
Voice, Video
& Meetings
Skype
Chat-based
Workspace
Teams
Sites & Content
Management
SharePoint and
OneDrive for
Business
Enterprise
Social
Yammer
Office 365 Groups
@buckleyplanet

49. Microsoft Teams use cases for each department
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/quick-start-enable-teams
@buckleyplanet

50. www.SuccessWithTeams.com
@buckleyplanet

51. 10 Tips to get Started with Microsoft Teams
(From an article by MVP Susan Hanley)
1. Before you create a new Microsoft Team or Office 365 Group, see if one already exists.
2. If you have an existing Group and want to leverage Teams, be sure to connect the Team and Group at
set up.
3. Think about naming conventions for Groups and Teams.
4. Create a new Team for each project.
5. Do a little up front planning with your team to identify some initial channels—but don’t go overboard.
6. Try to avoid customizing the default Documents (i.e. Shared%20Documents) library in your Team-
connected SharePoint site.
7. Understand the different user experiences for interacting with files in the Teams vs. SharePoint
interfaces—and plan accordingly.
8. Determine your “go to” user experience for files, but make it easy see the big picture.
9. Create a link to your Team from SharePoint.
10. Share your tips, ideas, and questions in the Microsoft Tech Community
https://www.computerworld.com/article/3179768/enterprise-applications/10-tips-to-get-started-with-microsoft-teams.html
@buckleyplanet

52. https://fto365dev.blob.core.windows.net/media/Defaul
t/DocResources/en-us/Office_365_Adoption_Guide.pdf
https://teamworktools.azurewebsites.net/tft/index.html
@buckleyplanet

53. In my personal
experience,
what works is:
• Start by talking to your users about their preferences –
don’t design the IA on your own, with all of your personal
biases.
• Focus on specific business problems – and clear outcomes.
• Be consistent! It’s easier to be consistent when governance
and change management are the priority.
• Test the various solutions – and understand how they will
help or hinder your collaboration culture.
• Look at your systems holistically, understanding both
company-wide and line of business needs – and the gaps
between them.
• Be prepared to regularly iterate on your strategy.
• Organic growth through pilots is the most sustainable
model for successful enterprise collaboration.
@buckleyplanet

54. Mastering Microsoft Teams:
End User Guide to Practical Usage,
Collaboration, and Governance
By MVPs Melissa Hubbard and Matthew Bailey
http://bit.ly/MasterTeams
@buckleyplanet

55. Christian Buckley
cbuck@collabtalk.com
@buckleyplanet
Thank you very much!

56. cbuck@collabtalk.com +1 425-246-2823 www.CollabTalk.com
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